Best 4 AM bar for live music

The Owl

The Owl is more than just another 4 AM bar filled with already-drunks pining to extend the night further into the wee hours. While the Logan Square hideaway has several features that pair well with fun mistakes—dim lighting, mirrored walls, a decadent waterfall flowing behind the long, curved bar—it also books obscure acts in its claustrophobia-­inducing back room, courtesy of talent buyer Aaron Dexter. Notable out-of-towners who've played the Owl include harsh-noise artist Pharmakon, experimental guitarist Tashi Dorji, blown-out scuzz rockers Obnox, and electronic-psych legends Silver Apples; Chicago-­based powerhouses such as Disappears and Pelican have crammed their equipment into the space too. Dexter, who also founded the fledgling Automatic Recordings label, recently kicked off a Sunday-night avant-jazz series that he hopes will help fill the gap left by the shuttering of the Hungry Brain and the death of its long-standing Transmission series. All shows at the Owl are free, and most start at 10 PM. Upcoming concerts include Broken Water with Melkbelly (Sun 7/5) and Vision Fortune with Acteurs (Thu 7/30).